They're Not Yelling 'Who' It's Definitely 'boooo'

September 10, 1989

GAINESVILLE — Fun-loving Florida Gators fans gave their quarterback a new nickname on Saturday. Each time he ran onto the field, the faithful encouraged the struggling sophomore by shouting their pet moniker.

But despite all the moral support, Kyle ''Boooooooo'' Morris was not effective enough to stave off a season-opening, 24-19 upset loss to Ole Miss. A loss that no doubt loosens Galen Hall's already tentative grip on his job. In fact some of the creative home fans leaning over the restraining wall created other, more colorful nicknames for the coach as the Gators lumbered downtrodden out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and into the sanctuary of Ben Hill Griffin Athletic Center. The sound you hear is hasty construction of Ben Hill Griffin Gallows.

Though Booooooooo Morris was getting most of the attention, he was hardly the only leading man in what was, from Orange and Blue perspective, a four-act tragedy. Morris missed numerous open receivers and hit numerous Ole Miss defenders (though only two held on). But the fans seemed to feel the visiting Rebels were aided by assorted other Gators gifts, including returner Tony Lomack's ill-advised decision to lurch for a rolling punt in heavy Ole Miss traffic and Hall's decisions not to (a) try another quarterback or (b) try an onsides kick with 1:37 left in the game.

Lomack, bless him, flung his body at a rolling punt on his 25 in the fourth quarter. The six Ole Miss players surrounding Tony at the time drew straws to see which of them would make the recovery. Ole Miss converted the gift into three points that were meaningful when UF had the ball at the Rebs' 37 on the game's final play.

Offensive coordinator Whitey Jordan said there was never any discussion about lifting Morris for freshman backup Donald Douglas. ''He's not ready for that much heat,'' Jordan said.

There was, however, considerable headset discussion about whether to try an onsides kick after Florida cut Ole Miss' lead to the final five points with 1:37 and two timeouts left. There was record eyebrow-jumping when the Gators kicked deep, gambling that the defense would hold on three downs and give Florida one last possession near midfield. The gamble worked, but Morris was able to connect only on an 8-yard swing pass in four desperate attempts in the final 30 seconds.

There were supporting numbers in the decision to lean on a surprisingly stingy Gators defense. If the old saw is true that statistics are for losers, then the Gators had clear title to this game. Ole Miss mined its 24 points from just eight first downs and 128 yards of offense. Not since Twiggy has anyone capitalized so well on such modest measurements. Florida had 25 first downs and 379 yards.

Medically, the Gators started this season with the same buzzard's luck as last. Not bad enough that Florida was playing without four defensive starters because of injury and off-season breaches of party etiquette. A fifth, safety Andy Newman, was lost in the first quarter to a broken foot. The mishap would figure crucially in what proved to be the key play of the game.

On fourth down at their 40 and nursing a one-point lead, the Rebels boldly threw a pass out of punt formation. The 28-yard completion from punter Charles Childers to fourth-string walk-on cornerback Gerald Vaughn was thrown into an area that normally would have been patrolled by senior cornerback Kerry Watkins, but who was sidelined by injury. His backup on the punt coverage team was Newman, who by now was in the X-ray unit of Shands Hospital. Since there is no punt coverage third team, the player pressed into service in that slot, freshman Del Speer, had never practiced there and was unfamiliar with his responsibilities.

Afterward, Ole Miss Coach Billy Brewer resisted the temptation to claim he spotted the weak link. But even if he was given an unknowing assist, Brewer was rewarded for the daring decision with a touchdown a few plays later that inevitably sank the Gators.

The Gators dispelled on the first three plays of the day that their offense would be Emmitt left, Emmitt right, Emmitt up the middle. It was Emmitt right, Emmitt left, Emmitt up the middle. Tailback Emmitt Smith ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns, much to the chagrin of the Ole Miss spelling major who produced a large sign that asked the taunting question, ''Emmit sic Who?''